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The 25-year old
Port Houston was replaced in 1950 by a new fireboat,
the Captain Crotty, and the Navigation District took
over full operation. Houston firefighters no longer manned
the boat.
The work week of
firefighters was reduced to an average of 60 hours on
October 1, 1950. Firefighters rotated between a 10-hour day
shift for a week and 14-hour night shift for a week. The day
shift switched to the night shift by working 24 hours on
Mondays. The Monday became known as "Long Monday," and was
dreaded by many of the firefighters. The night shift got
Mondays off when firefighters changed to days. Each
firefighter received two days off each week, one more
off-day than was granted under the old work
schedule.
 On January
31, 1951, an early morning fire in the 600 block of
Main destroyed almost a million dollars worth of
property in four buildings. A sheet of ice covered
everything, something that was rare in Houston. The
fire went to four alarms.
Two
firefighters, Captain Rufus "Bullet" Templet and
Chauffeur Joseph "Bull" Connor, suffered fatal
heart attacks. Eight other firefighters suffered
minor injuries.
Chief Middlekauf
stepped down in 1951 and returned to his former position as
assistant fire chief. Tom Powers was appointed acting fire
chief and held the post until the mayor named former Fire
Chief Homer Lyles as fire chief for a second
time.
Dry powder fire
extinguishers were introduced into the department in 1951.
The new type of extinguishing agent made it possible to
fight small metal fires.
The largest purchase
of fire apparatus in the department's young history amounted
to 19 pumpers and ladder trucks in 1952. They all were
manufactured by American LaFrance.
Fire Station 34 was
built on a donated lot at 2812 Berry Rd. and Jensen in 1952.
The station was headquarters for new District 8. The
following year a new Station 28 opened at 5116 Westheimer
near Sage.
An evaluation of the
fire department took place again in 1953 by the National
Board of Fire Underwriters (NBFU). The firefighting force
consisted of 719 men, including the fire chief, an assistant
chief, and two deputy chiefs. The deputy chiefs no longer
headed up District 1. District chiefs were assigned to head
the district.
The conclusion of the
evaluation was the fire department provides fairly good fire
protection, BUT "failure to adopt all modern fire methods
and a practical training program, to strengthen discipline,
and to provide necessary equipment seriously limits the
efficiency of the department.
On March 10, 1953,
Assistant Fire Chief Charley Middlekauf died of a heart
attack while directing a three-alarm fire at 1817 Center
Street. The fire involved a poultry processing plant. Chief
Middlekauf had been fire chief of the department from 1948
to 1951.
Chief Lyles died in
office on May 29, 1953. The mayor appointed Deputy Chief Joe
Lobue as fire chief later in the year on November 4. There
was no acting fire chief approved by city council between
the death of Chief Lyles and the appointment of Chief
Lobue.
On June 5, during the
period without a fire chief, a warehouse belonging to Alco
Fireworks at 1208 Rosine rocked the Montrose area with a
devastating explosion. The blast destroyed the warehouse and
set fire to several nearby houses. Three alarms were pulled
almost immediately. Two women and two children were killed,
and more than 70 others were injured. Property loss amounted
to $3-million.
Then on September 7,
an arsonist set afire a lumberyard at 2401 Texas. It went to
four alarms. He followed up on the afternoon of October 25
by setting fires in three more lumberyards: 2400 Preston at
1:07; 2330 Telephone Road at 7:15; and 204 Winkler at 8:30.
The first of the three lumberyards took three alarms to
control; the other two were controlled by two
alarms.
Self-contained
breathing apparatus (SCBA) were put on the cars of the
district chiefs and on all ladder trucks in 1953.
Development of furnishings made of synthetic fibers and
plastics made breathing more difficult during fires. Yet,
the old "leather-lung" firefighters ignored the new
breathing apparatus. They had a tradition to uphold, that of
a "smoke-eater." Later after engine companies were furnished
SCBA, the airpacks were usually buried under other equipment
in the basket of the engines. A firefighter was considered a
wimp for some years, if he donned an airpack at a
fire.
Fire Station 35 opened
in 1953 at Holmes Rd. and South Park Blvd.
By 1954, all first
line fire apparatus were equipped with 2-way radios. Only
chief cars had radios prior to this time.
On January 5, 1954, an
18-year-old disturbed male was arrested for setting the
lumberyard fires late last year.
Each ladder company
was equipped with 12 salvage covers during 1954. This
allowed salvage work to begin much sooner in outlying
districts. Only the salvage wagon, located at Station No. 2
downtown, had salvage covers, and its response time to
outlying areas was taking too long as the city expanded.
Fire Station 41 opened
at 805 Pearl and Amarillo in 1954.
In 1954, the auxiliary
fire department, which had disbanded after World War II, was
reorganized. Fear of nuclear attack was growing in the
country. The auxiliary firefighters responded to
multiple-alarm fires and aided the regular
firefighters.
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